Skate with pivoting front wheels

An in-line skate comprising:

• a skate body comprising a skate boot with an anterior toe end, a posterior heel end, a sole, and an open inner volume of a given length for receiving a skater's foot;
• a carriage frame pivotally coupled to the skate body to pivot about a pivot axis wherein the pivot axis has a horizontal position adjacent to the anterior end of the skate body and a vertical position wherein the vertical position of the pivot axis of the carriage frame is coincident with the sole of the skate boot;
• a plurality of wheels comprising a pivoting wheel group rotatably coupled to the carriage frame;
• at least one wheel comprising a fixed wheel group rotatably coupled to the skate body;
• whereby the pivoting wheel group can pivot with the carriage frame relative to the skate body to maintain contact with a ground surface throughout a range of pivoting of the skate body relative to the ground surface.

An in-line skate comprising:

• a skate body comprising a skate boot with an anterior toe end, a posterior heel end, a sole, and an open inner volume of a given length for receiving a skater's foot,
• a carriage frame pivotally coupled to the skate body to pivot about a pivot axis wherein the pivot axis has a horizontal position adjacent to the anterior end of the skate body and a vertical position wherein the vertical position of the pivot axis of the carriage frame is distal to the sole of the skate boot relative to the wheels of the in-line skate;
• a plurality of wheels comprising a pivoting wheel group rotatably coupled to the carriage frame;
• at least one wheel comprising a fixed wheel group rotatably coupled to the skate body;
• whereby the pivoting wheel group can pivot with the carriage frame relative to the skate body to maintain contact with a ground surface throughout a range of pivoting of the skate body relative to the ground surface.

An in-line skate comprising:

• a skate body comprising a skate boot with an anterior toe end, a posterior heel end, a sole, and an open inner volume of a given length for receiving a skater's foot,
• a carriage frame pivotally coupled to the skate body to pivot about a pivot axis wherein the pivot axis has a horizontal position adjacent to the anterior end of the skate body and a vertical position;
• a plurality of wheels comprising a pivoting wheel group rotatably coupled to the carriage frame;
• at least one wheel comprising a fixed wheel group rotatably coupled to the skate body;
• whereby the pivoting wheel group can pivot with the carriage frame relative to the skate body to maintain contact with a ground surface throughout a range of pivoting of the skate body relative to the ground surface;
• wherein the pivot axis of the carriage frame is located within a preferred axis location area that is defined at a first edge by a generally vertical line drawn from a given reference point and at a second edge by a line that extends from the reference point at a given downward angle relative to horizontal away from the posterior end of the skate body wherein the reference point has a horizontal location substantially coincident with or anterior to a location that is three-tenths of the length of the open inner volume of the skate boot from the anterior end of the open inner volume of the skate boot and a vertical location approximately coincident with or distal to the sole of the skate boot relative to the wheels of the in-line skate.

An in-line skate comprising:

• a skate body comprising a skate boot with an anterior toe end, a posterior heel end, a sole, and an open inner volume of a given length for receiving a skater's foot,
• a carriage frame pivotally coupled to the skate body to pivot about a pivot axis wherein the pivot axis has a horizontal position adjacent to the anterior end of the skate body and a vertical position;
• a plurality of wheels comprising a pivoting wheel group rotatably coupled to the carriage frame;
• at least one wheel comprising a fixed wheel group rotatably coupled to the skate body;
• whereby the pivoting wheel group can pivot with the carriage frame relative to the skate body to maintain contact with a ground surface throughout a range of pivoting of the skate body relative to the ground surface;
• wherein the pivot axis of the carriage frame is located within a preferred axis location area that is defined at a first edge by a generally vertical line drawn from a given reference point and at a second edge by a line that extends from the reference point at a given downward angle relative to horizontal away from the posterior end of the skate body wherein the reference point has a horizontal location substantially coincident with or anterior to a location that is approximately coincident with or anterior to the anterior end of the open inner volume of the skate boot and a vertical location approximately coincident with or distal to the sole of the skate boot relative to the wheels of the in-line skate.

An in-line skate comprising:

• a unitary, rigid main skate frame with an anterior end and a posterior end;
• a carriage frame pivotally coupled to the main skate frame to pivot about a pivot axis adjacent to the anterior end of the main skate frame wherein the pivot axis has a horizontal position and a vertical position;
• a plurality of wheels comprising a pivoting wheel group rotatably coupled to the carriage frame;
• at least one wheel comprising a fixed wheel group rotatably coupled to main the skate frame in alignment with the pivoting wheel group;
• whereby the rigidity and unitary construction of the main skate frame will tend to prevent the pivoting wheel group from becoming misaligned relative to the fixed wheel group and will ensure an overall rigidity of the in-line skate;
• and
• wherein the anterior end of the rigid skate frame comprises a base portion and an elevated retaining plateau disposed adjacent to the anterior end of the rigid skate frame and wherein the pivot axis of the carriage frame is retained by the elevated retaining plateau wherein the pivot axis is vertically disposed coincident with or distal to the base portion of the rigid skate frame relative to the pivoting wheel group and the fixed wheel group.